On The Verge: Israel at 77

Apr 29, 2025

War: Day 571

IDF tanks in Gaza

As Israel observes Memorial Day for those soldiers who lost their lives fighting for Isael, the fighting continues in Gaza.

At the annual memorial at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog made an impassioned plea. “Just steps away from where the smoke of the burning Temple mixed with the smoke of burning granaries two thousand years ago, I cry out against the inciters, the dividers, the arsonists: Enough!”

Herzog was referring to the civil war that broke out in the Second Temple of Jerusalem two thousand years ago that led to the defeat of Israel by the Romans and the two-thousand year exile that resulted.

Herzog was also referring to the deep rift in Israeli society today, and the murmurings of a nascent civil war, mainly caused by friction between the supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those who want to at least admit some responsibility for the Oct 7, 2023 disaster when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel killing 1200 and taking 251 captive.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog Speaking At The Western Wall

Herzog also said that “Our generation bears a historic responsibility: to safeguard, at all costs, our homeland, this precious miracle.”

According to Ynetnews, Israeli defense officials are currently preparing to expand the Gaza operation, and plan on a major reserve call-up.

However, according to Ynetnews, the rift in the society has gone so far that some Air Force pilots are questioning their orders fearing that there are political reasons for targets, an aim for a total victory in Gaza supported by the new head of the southern command Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, and covering up the true number of civilian casualties they were told to expect. There is also a simmering anti-war movement that could come to a boil at any time.

Prime Minister Netanyahu did not attend the West Wall memorial, which is not unexpected since Prime Ministers rarely attend. But Netanyahu is not expected to appear at any other public evens during Soldiers Memorial Day nor Israel’s public 77th Independence Day celebrations. Sources told the right-wing Netanyahu backing Israel HaYom newspaper that the Shin Bet, Israel’s FBI, is concerned about a possible assassination attempt on the Prime Minister’s life.

Skeptics say that it is possible that the Netanyahu friendly newspaper published this item to gain sympathy for Netanyahu at a time he is sinking in the polls and in public opinion.

The Times of Israel reported that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch gave a Soldier’s Memorial Day speech at a different location earlier in the day and said, “Israel will only stop fighting following the partition of Syria and the displacement of “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians from Gaza.”

In previous statements, that outraged hostage families, Smotritch said that winning the war was more important than freeing the hostages.

This, after Israel rejected Hamas' proposal for a five-year ceasefire in exchange for the release of all hostages, According to Ynetnews, Jerusalem is preparing to step up pressure on the terror group, following the calls of various ministers to move to a 'decisive phase’ (See Smotritch below)

According to the Times of Israel, “The Israel Defense Forces has published the names of 847 soldiers, officers and reservists, several dozen of whom are local security officers, killed during the ongoing war since October 7, including 329 of them on the border with the Gaza Strip during Hamas’s terror onslaught, and at least 413 during a ground offensive in the Hamas-run territory and amid operations on the border.

Meanwhile, the Israel Police listed 58 officers who were killed confronting the terrorists on the Gaza border, two officers killed during operations in the Strip, seven officers killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank, and three other officers killed during clashes with terror operatives in West Bank raids.

Approximately 1,200 people were killed as Hamas terrorists in Gaza launched a war on Israel on the morning of October 7, infiltrating towns, rampaging through military positions, shooting travelers dead on roads and in their homes and firing thousands of rockets at a wide swath of the country in a shocking assault. 251 were taken captive into Gaza where 59 still remain as hostages.

Israel launched a counter-attack against the Hamas sneak attack that resulted in the elimination of a number of Hamas top leaders. The fighting went on for over a year until a ceasefire went into effect on Jan 18, 2025. But fighting resumed when Hamas refused to honor agreements and return Israeli hostages.

According to unverified reports from Hamas sources tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed. Israel says most were involved in terrorist activities but admits some civilians were killed by the proximity to the battles.

Gaza

Last Friday, April 25th, two soldiers were killed in the renewed fighting in Gaza. This brings to total killed in Gaza since the Hamas invasion on October 7,2023 to 413.

According to Ynetnews, the latest casualties “began with the fall of undercover unit fighter Neta Yitzhak Kahane at 4:00 PM, and ended with the fall of armor officer Captain Ido Voloch two and a quarter hours later. “

Ynetnews reported that “It was the toughest battle since fighting resumed in the Gaza Strip about a month ago, with Hamas squads springing one after another from an ambush in the heart of the hostile neighborhood of Shajaiya, after the Golani Corps (Israel’s Marine Corp) first encountered incendiary fire. But the reserve fighters from Brigade 16 did not stop for a moment, eliminating terrorists and evacuating the wounded under fire, for nearly two hours.

The battle took place a kilometer and a half from the Gaza border near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, but beyond the 70th Ridge (named for its height in meters).

Soldiers hoist Israeli flag at Gaza position

According to Ynetnews,”This position at the 70th Ridge has important significance for the security of the residents of the western Negev. This ridge controls observation and fire over border settlements such as Nahal Oz and Kfar Gaza. “ The IDF recently completed new security posts in the area along the border fence but on the Gaza side of the fence.

This positional according to the report, prevents terrorists from having no line of fire or even observation of the Israeli settlements.

The soldiers were killed, according to the IDF, when an undercover unit of police special forces laid a trap for Hamas terrorists. But a squad of terrorists apparently emerged from a hidden tunnel and opened fire. Sgt. Kahana was shot in the head during the firefight.

Reportedly, within four minutes six tanks rushed to the scene of the well-planned Hamas ambush to rescue the beleaguered soldiers.

But, according to Ynetnews, "At least five terrorist squads emerged one after the other, firing anti-tank missiles and their personal weapons, and aimed at the evacuation routes. This revealed a relatively high level of command and control by Hamas, despite the fact that the IDF and Shin Bet recently announced the elimination of the fifth local battalion that had been thwarted since October 7.”

One of the tanks was hit by an RPG anti-tank rocket killing Cpt. Ido Voloch.

IDF reserve soldiers in Gaza

According to Ynetnews, “As part of the battle, 340 shells and 12 air force missiles were fired at targets near the Hamas forces. Since the beginning of its activity in the sector in the current round, Brigade 16 fighters have eliminated more than 200 terrorists and destroyed numerous terrorist infrastructures in order to gain and expand operational control over the buffer zone with the western Negev.

On April 20th, three women combat reconnaissance fighters, including an officer, were seriously injured when traveling on an "administrative route,” actually a new road laid in the security buffer zone along the border fence, in the " area of Beit Hanoun.”

According to reports, Hamas had a clear view of this new road and opened fire with an RPG, seriously wounding the female soldiers who were traveling in an unarmored vehicle.

Shortly after the RPG fire, a rescue force arrived.

Bedouin tracker IDF Sgt.Major G'haleb Sliman al-Nasasra

At 1:25 PM, about half an hour after the first RPG incident, what was described as a powerful charge was activated under the rescue force's vehicle. As a result of the explosion, one of the scouts was killed, Sergeant Major G'haleb Sliman al-Nasasra, a 35-year-old Bedouin, and two others were seriously injured.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, 75% of the tunnels in Gaza have not yet been destroyed.

On Monday, Aug 28th, the IDF reported the elimination of three top terrorist commanders in Gaza, two from Hamas and one from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Finance Minister Smotritch

However, even as the IDF is fighting hard in Gaza, ultra-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch has, according to Ynetnews, exploded in a meeting of the security cabinet at Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir for “not getting the job done” in Gaza.

According to Ynetnews, Smotritch, of the ultra-right Zionist Home party, along with ultra-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of the Jewish Power party, have been pushing for a full-scale invasion of Gaza and installing a military government to rule the strip.

According to Ynetnews, Prime Minister Netanyahu is against the military government but has been circumspect in passing on that opinion to Smotritch and Ben-Gvir. Alternatively, discussion have been held with international bodies to take over governance of the Gaza Strip, although none of those approached have been enthusiastic with the a response.

Conflict also arises over supplying aid to the Gaza Strip. Lt. Gen Zamir said that the IDF will not take part in any distribution of aid. Other alternatives have been suggested including hiring foreign para-military forces to supervise the distribution.

Smotritch and Ben-Gvir are against any aid reaching the residents of Gaza. Last week Smotritch incurred the ire of the families of hostages and their supporters when he said that winning the war in Gaza was the ultimate goal not the release of hostages.

Smotritch, Ben Gvir and their knesset members are in favor of resettling the Gaza strip and repopulating the Israeli settlements there that were evacuated in 2007.

Some of those supporting resettlement of Gaza are using US President Trump’s proposal to depopulate Gaza of Gazans and turn the Gaza strip into a beach resort.

In March, according to the Times of Israel, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, is working to establish a “migration administration” that will oversee the exodus of Palestinian residents from the Gaza Strip.

The government has kept information about troop movements, numbers, and dispersion in Gaza to a minimum. Earlier in the week the IDF allowed reporters into Gaza for the first time in a month..

Some pundits say that there isn’t a chance that Israel can win a decisive victory in Gaza and completely wipe out Hamas. Even Israel’s Chief of Staff Zamir has said that that goal is unreachable

Ynetnews reports that “The Saudi-owned Al-Hadath network, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, is recruiting as many as 30,000 new fighters. The report said the move is part of a new military strategy relying on guerrilla tactics, as most of the new recruits lack training in conventional combat. It also noted that the group has suffered substantial losses to its weapons arsenal, particularly drones and long-range rockets.

North

Car with Hezbollah flag in Beirut

The Times of Israel reports that since the outbreak of the war in 2023, Twenty-nine soldiers, including a local security officer, have been killed in attacks claimed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and allied terror groups on northern Israel since the fighting started. 51 soldiers were killed during ground operations in Lebanon. One soldier was killed due to malfunctioning ammunition on the Lebanon border.

Israel has been attacking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon that have shown the capacity to rebuild their missile capabilities, according to the Times of Israel. Israel has also repeatedly struck at commanders and other Hezbollah leaders in an attempt to keep Hezbollah subdued.

However, a report in Ynetnews stated that Hezbollah is slowly rebuilding its top leadership, replacing those who were killed in IDF attacks. The report said that Hezbollah was also recruiting soldiers and rebuilding its forces and that Hezbollah was still a viable force.

Over the last few weeks the IDF has bombed Hezbollah warehouses and any missile site they can locate. As well as eliminating Hezbollah leaders usually through drone attacks.

“Hezbollah is still stronger than several Lebanese armies.” This according to Col. (Res.) Dr. Moshe Elan in an interview in the Jerusalem Post.

Elan, an expert on Lebanon, says Lebanon has reached a “moment of truth.” Either national reconstruction or the fear of Hezbollah’s forces erupting again.

“If Hezbollah wants, it could stage a government coup and reclaim control. Millions of Shiites would obey it,” said Elan. He thought Hezbollah was waiting because the public wants to give the new government a chance to rebuild the country. As of now, according to the report, many Lebanese have no running water, continuous electricity, clean streets, or a stable currency.

“Hezbollah will not be disarmed,” said Hezbollah’s new leader Haim Qassem. ”We will not be a lap dog.”

According to Elan, Hezbollah is not eager to give up its missiles and weapons, worried that other terrorist organizations would push them aside and take their place.

US Congressman Mills (l) Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shalbani (r)

Meanwhile, according to the Times of Israel, Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa is said to seek peace with Israel and eyes Syria joining the Abraham Accords along with other moderate Arab countries.

According to Bloomberg News, the Syrian leader told US Congressman Cory Mills (R-FL) that “under the right conditions” Sharaa was interested in joining the Abraham Accords. Al-Sharaa said he was willing to clarify plans how he will address the presence of foreign fighters in Syria and offer guarantees to Israel. He is interested in kickstarting his economy, according to the Congressman.

Israeli sources say they are still leery of any agreements with the new Syrian leader who has a background as an ISIS fighter.

On a recent trip to the Israel’s north, one observer said he’d stopped in a supermarket in Kyriat Shmona, the site of disastrous Hezbollah missile attacks. Almost all of the residents Kryiat Shmona had been evacuated during the war.

The pleasant middle-aged clerk at the check-out counter said she was the third generation in Kyriat Shmona. She said the town was still only sparsely populated with residents who had been hesitant to return, but now said they would once the school year was over.

She herself commuted each day from a kibbutz away from the border where she lived with her children and grandchildren. They would all return, she said, at the end of the school year.

West Bank

New Deputy PA President Hussein al-Sheikh. al-Sheikh (l) Pres. Abbas (r)

Since the outbreak of the war on Oct 7,2025 Twelve soldiers were killed in terror attacks in the West Bank and Israel. Five soldiers were killed during counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank. Also, two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq.The military’s list also includes a soldier killed by friendly fire in the West Bank,

Meanwhile, Israel has continued it’s nearly non-stop operations in the West Bank arresting or killing wanted terrorists, seizing weapons and destroying weapons and explosive manufacturing locations. Security forces have reported an 80% drop after the West Bank crackdown.

Also, according to the Times of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s appointed a new deputy, Hussein al-Sheikh. al-Sheikh will make his first diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia next week, an Arab official y.

Al-Sheikh’s choice of Saudi Arabia demonstrates a recognition of the key role Riyadh can play in the PA’s effort to return to relevance on the international stage, where it has been overshadowed by Hamas after the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Also, according to the Times of Israel, the Kingdom of Joran has banned the Muslim Brotherhood after alleged sabotage plot against the Hashemite Kingdom. Jordanian security officials have seized the assets of Hamas’ allies in the Kingdom and searched the headquarters of the Moslem Brotherhood’s offices.

Red Sea

Houthi rebels demonstrate in Yemen

The terrorist group Houthis based in Yemen are still firing missiles at Israel.

Several have been fired over the last few weeks causing sirens to sound in various parts of Israel. One even caused alarms to be sounded in central Israel on the day of Passover. The rockets have all been shot down by Israeli defenses.

The US Centcom (central command) in what they called “Operation Rough Rider,” has struck back hard at Houthi targets. According to the Times of Israel, the US said it had struck 800 targets in Yemen since March 15 and killed hundreds of Houthis, including the leadership of the Iran-backed terrorist group.

CENTCOM said that “while the Houthis have continued to attack our vessels, our operations have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks. Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69 percent. Additionally, attacks from one-way attack drones have decreased by 55%.”

The Houthi rebels, whose slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, a Curse on the Jews,” began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

According to CNN, on Monday April 28th, the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier had to make a sudden turn to avoid a Houthi missile, with a $60 million US Navy F/A Super Hornet jet-fighter falling into the sea while being towed on board.

USS Harry Truman with US Navy F/A Super Hornet jet-fighter

US President Trump has said he is in favor of working out a diplomatic solution to the Iranian crises. Israel has threatened and even planned to strike at Iranian nuclear facilities but was told not to by the Trump Administration.

Reportedly, Israeli officials worry that by seeking to strike a deal with Iran they will only allow that terrorist supporting country to finally weaponize their nuclear program. Iran has made it clear that one of their objectives is the destruction of Israel.

According to Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

In an an episode of a documentary series about Iran’s plans for the Middle East on Israel’s Channel 13 TV, experts interviewed, including former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, said that the shortly after the Hamas invasion in Oct. 2023, when Hezbollah joined in the fighting against Israel, the Mossad had had precise information of the whereabouts of the Hezbollah terror group’s leaders including Hassan Nasrallah and needed to act immediately.

According to Gallant, Netanyahu kept putting off a decision, apparently worried about US President Trumps reaction. Finally, Netanyahu agreed to the airstrike on Nasrallah’s headquarters in Beirut, but since he was speaking at the US at 18:00 the strike could only take place at 18:20 when he’d finished speaking. In the closing remarks of his UN speech Netanyahu spoke of the long arm of Israel against it’s enemies.

At 18:20 IDF bombers destroyed the bunker where Nasrallah and many of his top echelon leaders were meeting.

According to one of the experts in the report, “This changed the Middle East… that and when Syria’s Assad was deposed. Iran has spent years building up the ability to encircle and eventually destroy Israel… that all changed with Nasrallah’s elimination in Lebanon and that of the ruling Assad family in Syria.”

According to one pundit, now the only card Iran had left to play, besides the distant and irritating Houthis, was a nuclear weapon.

Shahid Rajaee chemical warehouse damage in Iran’s Bandar Abbas port

Last week a powerful explosion ripped through the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee in Bandar Abbas where suspected chemicals, meant for propellants used in Iranian-ballistic missiles, exploded in a warehouse. Investigations said negligence was the cause. Israel denies any involvement in the blast.

The Shahid Rajaee port is Iran's largest commercial port. Reports indicated that the shockwave caused damage within a radius of several kilometers. In footage circulated from the moment of the explosion, orange smoke can be seen rising into the sky before a massive fireball suddenly expands, followed by a giant smoke mushroom.

According to Ynetnews, the Shahid Rajaee port, part of the critical infrastructure of the important port city of Bandar Abbas, is located on the northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. The strait is of strategic importance because 20% of the world's oil traffic passes through it

This port is economically vital for Iran since it is the largest commercial port in the country, handling around 70% of its goods, approximately 80 million tons annually. It also has oil facilities and petrochemical plants. In this port, a cyberattack was reported in 2020 that severely disrupted its operations. The Washington Post reported at that time that Israel was behind that operation.

Hostages

Hostage families and supporter protest in Tel Aviv

59 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas, and other terror groups, in Gaza in what has been described as inhuman conditions.

Families and supporters of the hostages still hold weekly protests around Israel with the main one in Tel Aviv at Hostage square. So far recent negotiations reportedly have not been successful. Israel’s representative Ron Dermer is to fly to Egypt this week in hopes of obtaining some sort of agreement on the release of the hostages.

According to the Times of Israel, quoting an Arab source, Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister, has said that fewer than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza. However, a member of Israel’s hostage negotiating team refuted the Prime Minister’s wife’s claim and said that 24 is the correct number.

One observer said that Mrs. Netanyahu’s statement could be seen as a way to diminish the importance of the hostage situation since only a ‘few’ hostages were left. And that the government, and her husband, had bigger items on their agenda.

Al-Thani (l) PM Netanyahu (r)

Qatari leader al-Thani has been very active in the negotiations since he has direct access to Hamas leaders, some of whom are living in Qatar.

According to the Times of Israel, in order to shield Netanyahu from any failure or lack of progress in the talks, Netanyahu’s “army of social media and political spokespersons, like his son Yair,” have been spreading a false claim that Qatar had earlier leaked details of the hostage talks causing them to fall apart.

Observers say that Netanyahu has threatened those opposing him with turning this “army” on them.

However, Hamas has stood firm on the demand of a five-year cease fire in exchange for the release of the remaining 59 Israelis held in Gaza. Israel has said that demand is unreasonable. Families of the hostages say that every day that passes endangers the lives of the hostages.

The Times of Israel reported that, according to a highly-placed government source, Netanyahu told US President Trump in a telephone conversation last week that Hamas is pretending and does not truly stand behind any proposal that includes the return of all the hostages.”

Also, according to the Times of Israel, an Arab source, “not Qatar” has said that the reports of Qatar dissing the Egyptians for their hostage efforts were manufactured by “Israeli officials’ to further harm the negotiations and deflect blame from Netanyahu.

Former hostage Arbel Yehoud

According to an interview in the Times of Israel, former hostage Arbel Yehoud, who was returned to Israel in January as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, says her Palestinian Islamic Jihad captors made it clear to her that they would kill her if the IDF discovered their location and came to rescue her.

“I’m sitting next to them with loaded guns and know that they’ll shoot me in the head first thing if the army comes in,”Yehoud, 29, told Channel 13 TV in an interview broadcast Monday, filmed in the ruins of the Kibbutz Nir Oz home she shared with Ariel Cunio, who is still in captivity.

“I don’t think there is a word that can describe the fear of the sound of fighting, the bombings, the planes, those few seconds of the sound before a missile drops, the shootouts,” she said. “That fear is paralyzing, it’s terrifying. You don’t know if you’ll still be breathing the next minute and where it will catch you.”

Destroyed home in Kibbutz Nir Oz

According to the Times of Israel, about one in four of Nir Oz’s 400 odd members was kidnapped or murdered on Oct 7, 2023 when the thousands of Hamas-led terrorists broke down the border fence and stormed into the Israeli kibbutzim, moshavim, cities and towns near the border.

One pundit asks if Netanyahu has urged President Trump to ignore Qatar’s suggestions for a ceasefire simply because Netanyahu is under the thumb of ultra-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch, whose party represents settlers, and who wants the army to reoccupy all of Gaza and set up a military government. And reestablish Israelis settlements there.

Ultra-right Jewish Power Party leader Itamar Ben Gvir agrees with Smotritch but, according to pundits, Ben Gvir, who leads a Kahanist movement, simply wants to destroy all of Gaza, and kill or deport all the Gazans. The pundit wonders that should Netanyahu not abide by their pressure they would bolt the coalition and the government would fall.

Netanyahu’s popularity in the polls has slipped appreciably. According to a Channel 12TV poll on March 29th, a majority of Israelis say that they do not trust the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The poll also showed that most of the public also opposed to government policy on the hostages and were disapproving of the budget passed this week that put huge sums into the coffers of the ultra-Orthodox.

Another bone of contention is the on-going battle over the draft of the ultra-Orthodox. Reportedly, ten thousand draft notices were sent out to eligible ultra-Orthodox but few showed up at the recruiting office..

Asked if they trust the current Netanyahu government, 70% of respondents polled said they do not, compared to 27% who said they do. Even among coalition voters, just 51% said they trust the government, compared to 36% who said they do not.

When asked if they support a deal to return all the hostages in return for an end to the war, 69% said they do, compared with 21% who said they oppose it and 10% who said they don’t know.

Among coalition voters, 54% said they support a deal, compared to 32% who oppose it. Among opposition voters, 86% said they support the deal, compared with 9% who said they do not.

Netanyahu’s government has long refused any suggestion of ending the war in exchange for the return of the 59 remaining hostages, saying the fighting can only end when the Hamas terror group is removed from power and can no longer pose a threat to Israel.

Finance Minister Smotrich received low marks in the poll, with 68% of respondents saying the far-right politician is doing a poor job, compared with 21% who said his functioning is good overall. Among coalition voters, 41% said he is doing a poor job while 43% said he is doing a good job.

Asked about the controversial judicial overhaul legislation that the government has been advancing, just 34% of respondents said they back it, compared to 50% who said they do not and 16% who said they weren’t sure. Among coalition voters, 62% approve of the legislation, while 82% of opposition voters oppose it.

Former Prime Minister Neftali Bennett has been touted as a serious candidate to oppose Netanyahu should the elections be held in 2026.

When asked who is better suited to serve as prime minister, 38% said Bennett, compared to 31% who said Netanyahu, while 24% of respondents said neither of them is suited for the position.

And, a Jerusalem Post polls said that 60% of Israelis thought there was a real risk of a civil war.

Anti-Semitism

Anti-Israel, Pro-Palestinian protest march in NYC

60% of all hate crimes reported in New York city in 2024 were against Jews, according to the New York Police Department.

On April 8th, pro-Palestinian protesters closed down Grand Central Station.

At Harvard University, Bashar Masri, Dean’s Consul at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, resigned from his position after a lawsuit claimed he aided Hamas by allegedly transferring funds to the terrorist organization.

In Croatia, Rabbi Pinchas Zaklo warned that Jewish life was at risk. He said the Zagreb Jewish center has no protection and pleaded for State help.

On April 20th, banners with swastikas were hung over a highway in Stockholm Sweden. Police said they were investigating.

And at the popular rock-festival Coachella, a sign went up over the heads of the Irish band Kneecap reading “F..k Israel, Free Palestine.”

On April 24th the FBI raided the residence of four American pro-Palestinian activists liked to protests at the University of Michigan. No entry or arrests warrants were shown the suspects and all were later released without charges.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the president of Cornell University has cancelled the performance of a Palestinian choir fearing unrest.

Also, the U.S. has moved to cut medical research funding for universities supporting BDS

NIH’s (National Institute of Health) draft policy bared $48 billion in annual grants for schools boycotting Israeli entities or maintaining DEI programs/ This triggered funding freezes at Harvard, Columbia and other institutions of higher learning.

On April 27 Ynet reported that a freelance journalist working for the BBC’s Arabic division was fired for posting anti-Semitic messages on social media. “We’ll burn the Jews like Hitler did,” he wrote.

The journalist, 33-year-old Samer Elzaenen, reportedly wrote in a social media post, "We’ll burn Jews like Hitler did,” and posted a series of antisemitic statements inciting violence. In a Facebook post from July 2022, Elzaenen had written, "When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything."

Ynetnews reported that this has been a decade of rising antisemitism: 39 Jews murdered in diaspora and millions of hate posts

“Fringe voices have entered the mainstream, the line between being anti-Israel and antisemitic has blurred, and there has been a hundreds-percent jump in the number of incidents against Jews abroad

“Every year we think we’ve reached a new peak in antisemitism, and every time reality surprises us with levels we haven’t seen since World War II,” says Dr. Raheli Baratz, head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism at the World Zionist Organization.

“The hate that spreads across social media is once again crossing into the physical realm. Antisemitism keeps changing form and face, but the hatred remains the same, deeply rooted in society. Geopolitical shifts around the world are fueling it—and it doesn’t take much to hate Jews. Every global crisis creates a new source for that hatred,” she adds.”

Swiss team turns back on Israeli competitors

The Times of Israel reported that In Switzerland, the Swiss under-23 fencing team turned its back on its Israeli competitors during the medal ceremony of the European Fencing Championship (U23) in Tallinn, Estonia on Saturday night April 27th.

Israel's male under-23team won the gold medal, with the Swiss team winning silver and the Italian team taking bronze. After the three teams took to the podium to take their awards, the Swiss fencers turned their backs on Israel while Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah, played.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Swiss Fencing Association has issued an apology over the anti-Israel snub.

According to Reuters, in several European countries, incidents rose by as much as 400% compared to the same period the year before. In France, for example, eight synagogues were attacked in a single week, along with widespread vandalism and calls for the murder of Jews in the streets.

During protests against Israel, chants of “Death to the Jews” were heard—not just “Death to Israel,” highlighting the blurring line between anti-Israel sentiment and outright antisemitism.

This week the Times of Israel, among many sources, reported that tensions boiled over in Brooklyn after clashes outside the Chabad world headquarters synagogue in Crown Heights. Several skirmishes broke out between anti-Israeli protesters and local Jews. Police were called in to separate the groups.

But anti-Israel activists threatened the local Jewish community ahead of a protest march. The march came in response to a video of Jews pursuing a woman down the street at the scene the an anti-Israel rally at the Chabad synagogue. It later became clear the woman was not part of any demonstration and was mistakenly harassed.

A Chabad spokesperson, Rabbi Motti Seligson, condemned both sides in a statement.

“The violent provocateurs who called for the genocide of Jews in support of terrorists and terrorism, outside a synagogue, in a Jewish neighborhood, where some of the worst antisemitic violence in American history was perpetrated, and where many residents share deep bonds with the victims of Oct 7, did so in order to intimidate, provoke, and instill fear,” Seligson said on X.

Seligson also said, “We condemn the crude language and violence of the small breakaway group of young people; such actions are entirely unacceptable and wholly antithetical to the Torah’s values. The fact that a possibly uninvolved bystander got pulled into the melee further underscores the point.”

Meanwhile, a pro-Palestinian protest march took place on lower broadway in Greenwich Village. “Seems to be happening everywhere you turn,” said one observer. “Question is, do these people even know what they’re protesting for or against?”

But not everyone is against Israel.

Hollywood director Quintin Tarantino and Wife Daniella Pick

According to Ynetnews, ”Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino has been spending the last few years in Israel, alongside his wife Danielle Peak and their two children, Leo (5) and Adriana (2.5), in their home in the Kikar Hamedina area of Tel Aviv.

“Despite the convenience of a fairly central area in Tel Aviv, the couple, who have settled in well, have decided to expand and build their dream home, but not too far away yet.

“In recent months, Quentin and Danielle have purchased land in Tel Aviv in the a northern neighborhood, on which two old houses are built, on an area of about 2 dunams that are to be demolished, and in their place a new, large house will be built for the Tarantino-Peak family. This purchase is estimated at 50 million shekels (@$17 million) not including the cost of building the house.”

Politics

PM Netanyahu (l) Shin Bet chief Bar (r)

In the “I Said, He Said” exchange of affidavits to the High Court between outgoing Shin Bet (Israel’s domestic intelligence agency) Ronen Bar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, each blames the other for the failures leading up to the disaster of Oct 7, 2023.

“Netanyahu asked me many times to do illegal things,” Bar wrote in his affidavit. “He also asked me to sign a letter his office had prepared saying he could not testify in his trial (for fraud, bribery and breach of trust) because of security considerations. I refused to sign the letter.”

At one point Likud Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli said he’d been contacted by a former Shin Bet official who claimed that certain people were targeted by that organization for political reasons.

Further investigation turned up that the former agent, who worked in the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division investigating illegal settler activity, was a Netanyahu supporter and Likud voter, casting doubt on his veracity.

On a Reshet Bet radio talk show, Yaacov Bardugo, also a commentator on the right-wing Netanyahu favoring Channel 14 TV, said in a surprising statement that he’d recently had a conversation with a Likud party member, although Bardugo wouldn’t identify the member or say if the member was a cabinet minister but did admit the person was a Knesset member.

In the discussion with this Likud member Bardugo said he’d asked ‘So, what’s going on with the Likud?” (The Likud is the leading party in the coalition with PM Netanyahu as long-time party chairman.) “Likud?” the Likud member asked. “There is no Likud. There is Netanyahu. That’s the Likud. Everything centers around him. Keeping him afloat. The government isn’t functioning. Nothing happens unless it impacts Netanyahu.”

The “Qatargate” scandal is still roiling the media and the Israeli society. Two of Netanyahu’s close associates, Netanyahu spokesman Jonathan Urich and Prime Minister’s Office Spokesman Eli Feldstein, have been confined to house arrest for allegedly taking money from Qatari officials in order to present a positive image of Qatar to Israel and the world.

The Times of Israel reported that Ulrich and Feldstein were arrested on suspicion of contacting a foreign agent, fraud, money laundering and bribery. The investigation was launched following revelations that Feldstein, who was previously a spokesman for Netanyahu, was working for Qatar via an international Public Relations firm contracted by Doha to feed Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories. This while he was employed in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his minions have cried that this was a political move to harm Netanyahu, who has not as yet been named in the affair as a direct participant.

The Kan TV network reported that the Israeli businessman Gil Birger, who owns the PR company, funneled funds from a Qatari lobbyist to Feldstein. These funds helped pay for Feldstein’s salary while he was employed at the Prime Minister’s office. Feldstein, according to the report, did not receive a salary directly from the Prime Minister’s Office because he had not passed a security clearance.

Eli Feldstein (l) Yonatan Urich (r)

One observer said that not paying Feldstein fit with Netanyhu’s penchant as a freeloader, always finding someone else to pay the bill.

According to Channel 13TV, Avi Birger claims he had no knowledge that Feldstein worked in the Prime Minister’s office when the payments were transferred to Feldstein from his Dubai-funded PR company.

Feldstein’s attorney, according to Channel 12TV, claims the money Feldstein received from Birger was for services he provided “for the Prime Minister’s office and not for Qatar.” The attorney’s claimed that the issue of Feldstein’s salary arose without Birger being informed that he was paying Feldstein’s government salary. Anyone working for the government is forbidden from receiving money from foreign sources.

Feldstein was also indicted for leaking secret documents from the Prime Minister’s Office that contained details of the hostage negotiations to the German “Bild” newspaper. Netanyahu claims he has no knowledge of these activities, however Feldstein’s attorney said Feldstein had twice discussed this issue with Netanyahu.

The leaked documents wound up scuttling the hostage negotiations at that stage. According to Feldstein the leak was to sway public opinion in Netanyahu’s favor.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered the opening of the investigation last February into the Qatargate affair. Recently she appeared before the Knesset’s Law and Justice Committee, chaired by Likud Knesset Member Simcha Rotman, one of the sponsors of the Judicial Reforms along with Justice Minister Yariv Levin. At the session Rotman accused the attorney general of ‘selective prosecution,’ hinting that the investigation was pure politics.

The Attorney-General denied the allegations and after an hour being badgered by Rotman and others left the committee with Rotman yelling after her, ‘You can’t just leave.” But she did.

Later other Netanyahu supporters, like Itamar Ben-Gvir, himself the subject of investigations and convictions for ultra-right activities, echoed Rotman’s accusations of “selective prosecution.”

Rothman, Ben-Gvir and Justice Minister Levine, along with other Likud stalwarts have been pushing to pass legislation that would remove the Attorney General from office.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin

One pundit wrote that Levine is like a three-year-old in an extended tantrum furious over something that the judicial system did to him. He seems to be dedicated to destroying it out of revenge; or like Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotritch, may have an ego so big he can’t abide being told what to do, or given limits by anybody, even the courts.

Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon has called for a public uprising to stop the Netanyahu government’s purge of anti-Bibi actors and support Attorney General Miara and Shin Bet chief Bar.

According to Times of Israel columnist Yuval Yoav, “This is not a drill. Ronen Bar’s affidavit is a thunderous alarm call for Israel.”

Editorial

The plight of the hostages held by terrorists in Gaza has seemingly become commonplace, accepted as a fact of life. Discussions go on. Meetings are held. Demands are made. And still nothing happens.

Meanwhile there are other topics that seize the headlines. Shin Bet head Ronen Bar’s affidavit and the scorching attack on Prime Minister Netanyahu for consistently lying, acting in a criminal manner, and not taking responsibility for the failure of policy that led to the Oct 7, 2023 invasion.

Then there are the various maneuvers Netanyahu has made to keep the war going with Bar broadly hinting that Netanyahu’s primary concern was in staying in power at all costs.

Sometimes the Prime Minister’s trial for fraud and corruption takes over the headlines, however Netanyahu is been clever in finding excuses not to appear in court, be it a meeting with US President Trump, a visiting ambassador or state luminary that needs coddling, or a medical problem. Some days he has to cut his testimony short because of important Prime Ministerial duties.

However, some people are losing patience with Netanyahu’s maneuvers. Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar has called for all those involved in the Oct 7th debacle to step down. He announced his own resignation taking place on June 15th and urged, obliquely, that Netanyahu take responsibility and do the same. All the others in the military establishment who were on duty during that fateful day have resigned from their positions. All except Netanyahu.

In an opinion piece in Ynetnews, veteran journalist Avi Isscharof, also the co-creator of the hit TV series ‘Fauda, wrote ’”Ronen Bar showed leadership. Bibi? He is still a politician who is running away from the gospel

“It is possible to guess that Ronen Bar already accepted the tradition of ‘accepting responsibility’ or telling the truth during his regular service in the (elite commando unit) Sayeret Matkal.

“However, when you look at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his history of not telling the truth, it is a bit hard to believe that the two, Bar and Netanyahu, served in the same military unit. A unit in which not only willpower and perseverance are a necessity for anyone who wants to be a fighter in it, but also reliability and truthful reporting to commanders and subordinates.”

Isscharof wrote he recently attended a Shin Bet awards ceremony. “When Ronen Bar came up to speak, it was hard not to notice the admiration these people had for their commander. They received him with thunderous applause and he spoke about how every fighter in this wing has experienced failure, the lack of success, but one must know how to take responsibility for it and correct it.”

According to Isscarof, “The decision to finance the (Hamas) terrorist organization with money from a state (Qatar) that supports terrorism, the ignoring of warnings from the heads of the security establishment, the demand to eliminate the organization's leaders, and of course the fact that he allowed Qatar, a state that supports the Muslim Brotherhood, to have a hold on his office (Qatargate), in the end, even Netanyahu, the "magician," will not be able to escape paying for all of this, and for the most terrible failure the state has experienced since its founding.

Bar has repeatedly called for a state inquiry into the background of the Oct 7th massacre. Netanyahu has persistently rejected the investigation.

Isscharof wrote “Contrary to the claims of Netanyahu's people and his mouthpieces, Bar did not cling to the horns of the altar and did not try to wage any private struggle, but fought for the organization and for the country of all of us. In order not to turn the State of Israel into a dictatorship, so that the leader would not be above the law but would obey it.“

According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu must now choose to compromise in order to preserve Israel’s democracy. At present, Israel is consumed by an internal power struggle with the Netanyahu and Judiciary battling over the fate of the state. The Post encourages Netanyahu to chose a centrist position.

Welcome to Israel’s 77th year.

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